89th Winter, 514
Alea had been kept at the NHC much later than usual today. It was toward the end of the season, when people were settling accounts, and they'd needed every hand to search records and file paperwork. It had been tedious, and mentally exhausting, but at least it was a break from scrubbing floors.
In any case, it was already dark by the time she was sent home. It was not so late that she was falling asleep; it was just that the sun set early this time of year. She'd already missed dinner though, and so she was sprinting as fast as she could along the canals, hoping to make it back before the table scraps were thrown into the lake.
She had been taking this route long enough to know that it was one of the shorter ways home, but she wasn't sure she liked it. The first part was okay, even though she had to go all the way to the far end of one platform to find a bridge to the next, which was a shop filled with--ugh--books. Then, instead of going in a relatively straight line, she had to dash ALL the way around the C-shaped cluster of floating buildings. She was panting by the time she reached the fighter pits, but she pushed herself even faster to get past them. Too many reasons she didn't want to think about them.
She was running past the Nitrozian Estate now. She could see it, just across the canal, but the land route involved two more bridges. She was so hungry... and tired now too. Indecision gripping her, she angled herself towards the canal, getting ready to jump.